May
25, 2005.
BY E-MAIL: (khatami@president.ir)
File: 1305-A-700
Mr.
Mohammad Khatami
President
Islamic Republic of Iran
Palestine Avenue
Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran
Dear Mr. President:
I
am writing to you to protest, on behalf of the 55,000
members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW),
further serious violations of workers’ rights occurring in
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
On
April 12, 2005, Mr. Parviz Salarvand, a worker at the Iran
Khodro automobile construction company, was arrested after
participating in protests against deteriorating working
conditions at the company. Company security police brutally
interrogated him and will only confirm that he remains
detained. No one has heard from him since his arrest. The
regime reportedly intends to put him on trial for
“sabotage”.
On
May 5, Mr. Sadegh Amiri, a labour activist who has
courageously worked for the formation of free labour
organizations in the Islamic Republic, was arrested at his
workplace. He has since been released on bail following
pressure from trade unions around the world. However, your
government is attempting to charge him with trumped-up
charges of “actions against national security” and
“publication of illegal leaflets”. CUPW is aware that such
charges in the past have lead to long prison terms and even
execution for many Iranians. Mr. Amiri is being framed
because he is an active supporter of the Follow-Up Committee
for the Formation of Free Labour Organizations and the
organizer of a May Day ceremony in Tehran.
On
February 22, 2005, Mr. Baha’eddin Hosseini, a construction
worker in Sanandaj, was kidnapped by agents of the Islamic
Republic. Despite repeated attempts by his family to find
out where he is being held, no information has been
released. CUPW is aware that kidnapping has long been used
by your government against dissidents. Many people have
“disappeared” and were later found murdered.
. .
. . 2
On
May 9, 2005, more than 300 men from the Iranian Workers’ House
(Khaneh Kargar) and from the Islamic Shora of the Vahed Bus
Company brutally attacked a meeting of the founding committee
of the bus company’s workers’ union. Ten members of the
founding committee were attacked and one member, Mr. Mansour
Ossaniou, was deliberately seriously injured. The premises of
the Bakery Workers Association, where the meeting was being
held, was badly damaged. All of this took place in the
presence of security forces, who even filmed the event
themselves while confiscating press cameras and tape recorders
from the ISNA news agency and newspaper reporters.
CUPW
in the past has all too often had occasion to denounce the
Islamic Republic of Iran for its blatant violation of labour
rights. We join with labour organizations around the world in
vigorously protesting these recent events. The Canadian Labour
Congress (CLC) and the ICFTU, to which we are affiliated, have
repeatedly reminded you that, as a member of the ILO, Iran is
obligated to respect and enforce the fundamental principles
contained in Conventions 87 and 98 enshrining the rights to
freedom of association and free collective bargaining.
CUPW
continues to demand of your government that these violations
of workers’ rights be immediately and unconditionally
rectified and that your government and its agents cease to
interfere in the legitimate exercise by Iranian workers of
forming trade unions and engaging in free collective
bargaining.
Yours
sincerely,
Deborah Bourque,
National President.
c.c.: Ken Georgetti, President, CLC
National Executive Committee
National Union Representatives
Specialists
b.c.c.:
David Aram
DB/jh
cope
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